The Wayward Star emerges into a vast internal cargo gallery. Shielded cradles hang in organized tiers beneath maintenance gantries, their old freight markings dim beneath dust and oxidation.
Serai
Stay to the outer rail. The central lanes are designed for automated handling, and some of those systems may still recognize authorized traffic.
Serai guides Damon along the gallery perimeter, her hood still raised. Passive sensors catch fresh actuator movement several bays ahead, followed by a faint electrical discharge.
Serai
That cradle. Its restraint geometry matches the container that carried me, including the offset stabilizer and the lower monitoring bracket.
The trace leads toward a service berth recessed beneath the gallery. A tool imprint mars its access plate, a three-pronged crescent unlike standard depot fittings.
Serai
Someone worked here recently. The imprint is fresh enough to preserve the handler’s tool pattern, and there is part of a tag caught beneath the plate.
Damon’s passive scan resolves several damaged characters on the tag: RHE... V-12. No network record opens, but the physical clue points to a specific handler or service team.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the handler or service team marked RHE... V-12
Director's note
Advance this physical lead toward a concrete identity or affiliation. Preserve the possibility that someone or something is currently active nearby.
“Damon accepts the new lead but does not disturb the access plate yet. He photographs and closely examines the damaged RHE… V-12 tag, the three-pronged crescent tool imprint, and surrounding physical traces, looking for additional characters, manufacturer marks, wear patterns, residue, or evidence identifying the handler or service team. Serai stays beside him and compares the berth, symbol, and equipment with anything she remembers from her transport. Damon remains alert to the fresh actuator movement several bays ahead.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled +1)
Damon photographs the damaged tag from multiple angles, then studies it under oblique light. Scratches reveal buried characters: RHELIUM INDUSTRIAL, V-12, and a partial service mark.
He examines the three-pronged crescent imprint without touching the plate. Its even wear and embedded gray ceramic residue identify a powered depot-maintenance tool, used repeatedly rather than improvised.
Damon Ryder
The tag identifies equipment, not a person, but the tool pattern belongs to a depot service team.
Additional traces show boot scuffs, a wheeled maintenance case, and a smear of blue sealant leading from the berth toward a narrow service lane. The marks are recent.
Serai
Rhelium equipment was present during my transport. I remember that crescent mark on a handler’s case, and the blue sealant covered monitoring connections.
Serai compares the offset bracket and berth controls with her memory, confirming this was a servicing stop after the container entered Khepri, not its first transfer point.
Several bays ahead, the actuator moves again and emits a muted discharge. Damon keeps the evidence recorded, remains beside Serai, and watches the active berth without disturbing the plate.
Director's note
Advance them toward the source of the recent Rhelium service activity. Reveal who or what is currently active ahead rather than another indirect clue, while allowing Damon and Serai an opportunity to observe before being detected.
“Damon quietly follows the fresh boot scuffs, maintenance-case tracks, and blue sealant trail into the narrow service lane, keeping Serai close and moving cautiously toward the active berth. He does not announce himself or interfere with machinery. Damon watches for personnel, surveillance, exits, equipment, or signs of what is operating several bays ahead, while Serai looks for anything she recognizes from her transport.”
SUCCESS (Good Investigation, rolled +1)
Damon follows the fresh boot scuffs into the narrow service lane, keeping Serai close behind him. Blue sealant marks the wall and turns toward the active berth.
He pauses at each junction, scanning ceiling cameras, maintenance hatches, power conduits, and two possible exits. The lane opens behind a cargo frame overlooking the recessed berth.
Serai
That case is Rhelium-made. The crescent tool, blue sealant, and lower monitoring bracket all belong to the same servicing crew.
Below, a compact maintenance crawler works over the cradle. Its articulated arms replace a monitoring coupler while a young adult woman in a gray pressure suit, a slim human woman with dark brown skin and tightly cropped black hair, her face turned away from view watches the diagnostic feed.
Her suit bears the Rhelium Industrial mark and V-12 service patch. A second crawler waits beside sealed equipment cases, while a small surveillance drone sweeps the berth entrance.
Serai
I recognize her posture and that equipment. She was present during my transport, though I never saw her face. She is servicing the same kind of cradle.
The woman remains unaware of Damon and Serai above her. The active berth, service crew, surveillance pattern, and unobstructed maintenance exit are now visible from concealment.
Quest Complete
Identify the handler or service team marked RHE... V-12
Skill Upgrade: Investigation Good→Great
Director's notewhole tale
Reveal what the technician is actually doing and whether she appears to be knowingly supporting the hidden transport operation. If she communicates with someone, reveal useful information from that interaction. Keep Damon and Serai concealed unless their actions genuinely expose them.
“Damon remains concealed with Serai and quietly observes the V-12 technician rather than confronting her. He studies what she is servicing, what the diagnostic feed shows, how the surveillance drone patrols, and whether she communicates with anyone or receives instructions. Serai watches beside him for behavior, equipment, procedures, voices, or terminology she remembers from her own transport. Damon also notes both exits in case they need to withdraw.”
SUCCESS (Great Investigation, rolled +3)
Damon remains concealed behind the cargo frame, mapping both exits: the service lane behind him and a maintenance hatch beyond the berth. Neither route is blocked.
The surveillance drone sweeps the entrance every eighteen seconds, pauses over the crawler, then returns along the same arc. Its sensor cone never reaches their hiding place.
Below, the V-12 technician replaces the monitoring coupler, checks its signal, and compares the feed against a restrained-life-support profile. The cradle is being serviced for metabolic suspension, not ordinary cargo.
Rhelium V-12 service technician
Coupler seven is stable. Suppression telemetry is clean. Transfer cradle V-12 can accept another occupant after pressure calibration.
She keys a narrow-beam handset. A distorted voice confirms a collection window at intake tier three, then orders her to preserve the cradle’s memory and report no irregular readings.
Serai
That terminology is familiar. They called the suppression profile clean when they moved me. She knows exactly what this equipment is used for.
The technician removes a sealed Rhelium service tag and clips it beneath the diagnostic panel, exposing a fresh authorization code: V-12, intake tier three, collection window active. Damon now has the crew’s procedure, command exchange, and a usable route beyond the berth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the V-12 technician knowingly serviced Serai’s transport
Director's note
Advance them to intake tier three while the collection window is active. Reveal the operation in progress and concrete people, vessels, communications, or cargo involved. Preserve their opportunity to observe unseen before deciding whether to intervene.
“Damon remains concealed with Serai and does not confront the V-12 technician. He records the authorization code, collection window, drone timing, and command exchange, then quietly withdraws through the unobstructed maintenance route toward intake tier three. He and Serai move cautiously, using the technician’s procedure and Serai’s memories to recognize the collection process while avoiding surveillance. Their goal is to observe the active collection window before interfering: identify who arrives, who or what is being collected, how the transfer is authorized, and where orders originate.”
SUCCESS (Great Investigation, rolled +1)
Damon records the V-12 authorization, collection window, drone cycle, handset exchange, and Rhelium service patch. He stores the copy locally, leaving no signal behind.
He and Serai withdraw through the unobstructed maintenance lane during the drone’s return sweep. Their route follows the technician’s stated intake-tier sequence, avoiding the crawler’s sensor cone.
Serai
Tier three will be a collection point, not a storage berth. They will verify the cradle, the occupant, and the receiving authorization before moving anything.
Serai guides Damon through two service turns by remembered vibration and pressure changes. They reach an overhead maintenance gallery overlooking intake tier three as the collection window opens.
A shielded cargo tug glides into the tier and locks beneath the gallery. Its bay carries a Rhelium-marked cradle, while two suited handlers meet the V-12 technician at the transfer rail.
Rhelium V-12 service technician
Authorization V-12 confirmed. Suppression telemetry remains clean. Release the cradle only after the receiving seal answers.
The tug answers with the same narrow authentication pattern Damon recorded at Khepri’s boundary. A sealed intake door opens, revealing an active transfer mechanism and a second occupied cradle waiting inside.
Quest Complete
Determine whether the V-12 technician knowingly serviced Serai’s transport
Director's notewhole tale
Reveal the next stage of the live collection and concrete information about its operators or command structure. Preserve Damon and Serai’s concealment while establishing enough about the occupant’s situation for Damon to decide whether to intervene.
“Damon and Serai remain concealed and observe the active transfer without interfering yet. Damon records the handlers, technician, tug, authorization procedure, receiving seal, and second occupied cradle, watching for names, insignia, communications, destinations, or anything revealing who controls the operation. Serai focuses on the occupied cradle and compares every step with what happened during her transport. Damon also tries to determine whether the occupant appears endangered and whether intervention may become necessary.”
FAILURE (Great Investigation, rolled -2)
Damon keeps the Wayward Star’s recorder passive and frames the transfer through the gallery rail. The handlers wear identical gray suits, marked with a black hexagonal crest and no names.
The tug’s bay seal cycles through three checks: V-12 authorization, receiving pressure, and a biometric confirmation from the occupied cradle. A console briefly displays the destination: intake quarantine, Khepri tier five.
Serai
The occupant is alive, but deeply suppressed. That is the same sequence they used on me, including the pressure pause before release.
Through the cradle’s translucent inspection strip, Damon sees a motionless adult silhouette and steady life-support indicators. No visible alarm appears, but the restraint telemetry shows elevated metabolic stress.
His recorder catches the technician’s exchange before a handler angles a diagnostic wand toward the gallery. The wand’s scan grazes Damon’s cover, producing a faint thermal echo.
Rhelium V-12 service technician
Seal variance on the gallery side. Pause release and run a sweep. Tier five will not accept an unverified cradle.
Damon and Serai withdraw behind the maintenance housing as the handlers turn. The transfer pauses, but their captured data reveals a usable route: quarantine tier five, controlled by the black-hexagon transport unit, with intervention possible before release.
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the occupant’s release into quarantine